If you’ve been in college for more than a couple weeks, you’ve probably learned what just about every students learns really quickly: you’re going to be tired a lot. You probably aren’t sleeping enough (who wants to sleep when there are friends to hang out with, homework to do, papers to write, and girls/guys to chase?), you’re spending a lot of mental and physical energy going to class and studying, and you’re expending energy walking around all day (in addition to any sports you play or frisbee-tossing sessions you engage in). What does all of this mean? It means that, at some point, you’re going to need an energy boost.

The college student’s fallback energy boost is, always has been, and always will be caffeine. Whether it’s in soda, coffee, tea, an energy drink, or some other form, caffeinating is a reliable way to get a boost. Unless, of course, you’ve been having a lot of it and you’re developing a tolerance. In this case, you’ll need to start having more and more for it to have any effect. I highly recommend limiting your caffeine intake when you don’t need it just so that it’s more effective when you do actually require a boost.

One of my favorite strategies is to avoid needing an energy boost in the first place. You may not be able to get much more sleep, but you can still do some things that will help keep you from running so low that you need some artificial help. Eating breakfast, for example. Make sure you don’t let yourself get overly hungry throughout the day, and you’ll avoid the blood sugar swings that will make you really tired and leave you in search of a cup of coffee.

Stress is near the top of the list of college student energy sappers. I’ve written about stress management quite a few times on this blog, so you should have at least some idea of how to keep your stress at a reasonable level by now. If not, start reading up on it. It’ll make a big difference. Not only will it help out your energy levels, but it will really have a positive effect on the rest of your life.

Even though it may seem obvious, taking a nap is a very under-utilized energy booster. Get back to your dorm for 15 or 20 minutes, turn off the lights, and lay down. Even if you don’t sleep, the relaxation should help you re-center yourself and get some energy back. It’s easy for a 15-minute nap to turn into a 2-hour one, so be careful doing this.

Everyone has their own preferred energy boosts. Whether yours is coffee, sleeping, or something entirely different, use it when you have to! Being overly tired all day may seem like a good way to get a lot of things done, but it can also get you sick, and it certainly won’t have a good effect on your grades. Keep your fatigue under control, and you’ll be in good shape.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com

Every college students knows that going to college is expensive. Whether you’re going to a top-tier private school, a large public research university, or a local community college, it’s not cheap. Obviously, the price varies greatly. If you have some impressive academic credentials, great writing skills, and a load of extracurricular activities to put on an application, you might be thinking about applying to some of the higher-ranked schools in the country. If you’re wondering how much that will cost you—and if it’s worth it—here are a few things to think about.

The latest Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Sarah Lawrence College in New York has a total cost of almost $56,000 per year. That’s a lot of money. Is it worth it? With a small campus (less than 1,300 students), every student gets a great deal of one-on-one interaction with their professors. In fact, the Sarah Lawrence class system is built on the basis of having both classes and individual face time with professors. They also offer a large number of scholarships and grants to students, which helps reduce the average amount paid by the school’s attendees. Sarah Lawrence is known as having a pretty rigorous liberal arts program, so you can count on having a good reputation backing up your diploma.

Georgetown University is another school very near the top of the price list at just over $52,000 per year. In addition to this high cost of tuition, it also has an exacting standard of academic excellence and a pretty impressive job placement rate. So again, there are quite a few factors to consider.

One of the important things to think about when it comes to choosing a school (especially if you’re looking at a college as expensive as Sarah Lawrence or Georgetown) is the job placement assistance that the school offers. This is a very significant factor in separating colleges. Make sure to take a look at this when making your decisions. It’s also important to take into account the field that you’re looking at entering. If you’re going into an extremely specialized field, there may not be very many people that will have your qualifications, so companies are more likely to seek you out. On the flipside, if you get a degree in business, there will be tens of thousands (if not more) of people in your area that just graduated with the same qualifications. So job placement assistance might be a deal breaker.

Highly ranked, expensive schools certainly do have their advantages. But they’re not the right choice for everyone. Make sure to look at as many factors as you can when making your decision, and you’ll be much more likely to make the right one.

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com

If there’s one thing I’ve found that almost every college student has in common, it’s a high stress level. There are a few people who really have their lives together and aren’t stressing about much, but that’s pretty rare. (And don’t those people make you a little nervous?) There are a lot of different stressors that students have to deal with, and everyone has their own combination of things going on, but one of the most common things that I see stressing people out is a full schedule. (It’s often an overly full schedule.) You spend most of your day in class and doing homework; but you also have work . . . and friends . . . and sports . . . and the social scene . . . and your family . . . and who knows what else. It’s easy to get overloaded. What do I suggest you do about this? Take a break!

You may be thinking that I’m making it sound a lot simpler than it is. And in a way, I am. But when it comes down to it, you just have to stop what you’re doing for a little bit and let yourself recover. How you recover is up to you—go for a walk, take a nap, read a book, watch a movie—do whatever you want. Whatever lets your mind (and your body, if you need it) relax. Trust me. It’ll be worth it. If you’re studying for a test, and all you can think about is something else, you could be overscheduled and in need of a break. Take twenty or thirty minutes off of studying and come back to it refreshed. At first, it will feel like you’re “losing” that time, and that your relaxation time is detrimental to your studying. You’ll find, however, that it’s easier to concentrate when you’re relaxed, and your studying will be much more effective, even though there’s a little less of it.

“Okay, so I need to take a break every once in a while,” you might be thinking. “But how do I decide what to take a break from?” Prioritizing things during college can be tough. Everything seems really important (especially academically). And there certainly are things that you shouldn’t skip out on to let your mind relax. A test, for example. Don’t skip that. But a lecture? If you know you’ll be able to get the notes, that might not be a bad idea. (I rarely advocate skipping class, and I don’t suggest doing it often, but sometimes it’s just the best idea.) Take an hour off of writing a paper (unless it’s due in four hours, of course). Cut your lunch hour short and take a quick nap. Or—if you’re one of the lucky ones that’s caught up on sleep—stay up a little later to read a novel.

It’s a foreign concept to many students, but taking a break from the rush that is college life is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Give it a shot—you’ll appreciate it!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com

Your connection to your college is, sometimes, like a relationship. Sometimes things are going really well; sometimes they aren’t so much. You have to put in work to make your experience a positive one. The administration and faculty of your university has to put forth effort, as well. And, like relationships, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Maybe one party isn’t willing to put forth as much effort as the other would like. Or there’s just too strong of a personality difference. No matter the reason, you may feel like it’s time to part ways. And if this comes in the middle of the year, you’ll be making a mid-year transfer.

I’m slightly conflicted on transfers (especially mid-year ones). On one hand, I’d like to say “you should address the issue and see if you can make it better for yourselves and other students who may be having the same problem,” but on the other hand, I’m also of the mind that “if you don’t like where you are or what you’re doing, get out!” So it makes it difficult to make a general prescription. It really depends on your situation. I do, however, strongly encourage a good deal of thought (probably more than a letter-to-an-advice-column’s worth) about it. Transferring is a big deal, even if you haven’t been at your school very long. You’ll be going to a new campus, new students, new professors, and maybe a new city. Possibly even a new state. It’s a big change, especially in the middle of the year—and adding stressors like these can make it tough. So think about it before you make the decision.

If you’ve decided to transfer, my most important piece of advice is to start the process as early as possible. Let your academic advisor know, so he or she can help you out with the things you need to do. Contact the admissions office of the school you’d like to transfer too, as well, so you know exactly what is needed on their end. The more information you can gather, the easier the process will be.

One point to make sure to cover thoroughly is transferring credits. It’s important to not only get to the new school, but to take your classes with you. You’ve probably paid a lot of money to get the credits that you have, so do your best to make sure that your classes will apply towards graduation requirements at your new school.

Once you’ve gotten the formalities taken care of, it’s time to start familiarizing yourself with your new school. Go check it out, wander around the campus, and explore the city that it’s in. Find the nearest coffee shops, grocery stores, and pizza parlors. This will be your new home—get excited about it! It’s fun learning new places and meeting new people. It may be stressful, but you’ll have a good time. Good luck!

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com

The spread of the H1N1 flu (“swine flu”) has been one of the largest news stories of 2009. It’s been spread on the internet, TV, radio, and print, and is one of the more pervasive news topics. There’s been much discussion about whether or not this could be one of the “big ones,” or if it’s any worse than the usual seasonal flu. And while I’m not an expert on this topic, I can provide my opinions and a few references to things that I’ve read about it.

One of the first things that I’d like to point out is that H1N1 is not as fatal as the media may have made it seem. If you’ve seen any news stories on the virus, it’s easy to imagine that it’s a pretty serious killer. And the number of deaths in the United States—almost 1700—does sound like a lot. And it is; but it’s also important to realize that there have been over 66,000 confirmed cases in the country. This means that it’s only fatal to two or three people per hundred that contract it. And many of these people have underlying conditions, such as suppressed immune systems. In fact, according to the CDC, “About 70 percent of people who have been hospitalized with this 2009 H1N1 virus have had one or more medical conditions previously recognized as placing people at “high risk” of serious seasonal flu-related complications.” (CDC) I don’t mean to say that it’s not a serious thing. It is. But I think many people have overstated the severity of the situation.

As a college student, you should have a decently strong immune system. You’re young, and hopefully you take pretty good care of yourself, so you’re at an advantage already. If you take some extra precautions, you should have no problem avoiding the flu—and if you do contract, you should be able to expect a reasonably speedy recovery.

There are many things that you can do to prevent your exposure to the virus, but staying away from people that are sick is probably the most effective one. If one of your friends hasn’t been feeling well for a couple days, don’t go over to her dorm to study. If you notice that someone in one of your classes is sick, try not to sit next to him (this isn’t always an option, and you don’t want to embarrass the person, but there are subtle ways to add a little distance). Also, if you get sick, follow the CDC guidelines for avoiding getting other people sick.

Other than avoiding contact, you can also make an extra effort to practice healthy habits. Get enough sleep every night so your body has the energy to maintain its immune function. Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables so your body has the tools it needs to fight off infections. Basically, do all of the things that your health teachers have been telling you to do for the past twelve years or so.

In conclusion, I say that you don’t need to be afraid of H1N1. Aware? Cautious? Sure. But don’t get caught up in all the hype. It’ll just cause more stress, which I’m sure you don’t need any more of (especially as the semester is coming to a close).

As always, if you have any questions, comments or funny stories you'd like me to share about college or the blog, email me at stu@stuvu.com